O 

o 


H.   L.    MENCKEN 


FANFARE 

By  Burton  iRascoe 

THE  AMERICAN  CRITIC 

By  Vincent  O'Sullivan 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
By  F.  C.  Henderson 


Photograph  by  Meredith  Janvier 


H.   L.    MENCKEN 


FANFARE 

By  Burton  Rascoe 

THE  AMERICAN  CRITIC 

By  Vincent  O'Sullivan 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
By  F.  C.  Henderson 


NEW  YORK      ALFRED  •  A  •  KNOPF       1920 


I 

£ 

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FANFARE 

BY  BURTON  RASCOE 
Pour  etre  un  bon  critique  il  faut  avoir  une  forte  personalite  —  REMY 

DE    GOURMONT. 


When  H.  L.  Mencken  unpacks  his  idiomatic  brasses,  tunes 
up  his  verbal  strings,  and  gets  in  readiness  his  phrasal  wood 
winds  to  orchestrate  a  fugue  in  damnation  or  in  praise  of 
man,  god  or  book,  his  all  too  meagre  audience  cancels  all 
other  engagements  to  be  on  hand  at  the  initial  presentation. 
The  result,  that  audience  knows,  will  be  an  experience  of  pure 
enjoyment.  His  musicianship  is  unfailing.  His  program  is 
unsatisfactory  only  in  its  impermanence.  Though  the  theme 
he  proposes  is  invariably  Mencken  —  Mencken  apropos  of  this 
or  that  —  he  gives  it  infinite  and  intricate  variations. 

It  is,  then,  as  an  artist  in  words  that  Mr.  Mencken  is  first  to 
be  considered.  He  has  the  true  marks  of  a  stylist:  a  rich  and 
varied  vocabulary  and  an  aptitude  for  connotation.  The 
baldly  obvious,  the  commonplace  in  expression,  are  to  him 
impossible.  If  he  possesses  an  illusion,  it  is  that  word  arrange 
ments  matter.  In  the  employment  of  hackneyed,  lifeless  similes, 
down-at-the-heel  metaphors,  and  shopworn  nouns  and  adjec 
tives,  he  sees  a  dull  intellect  plodding  pathetically  along, 
redeemed  only  if  it  express  with  dubious  clarity  a  new  or  vital 
idea.  Knowing  that  the  style  is  the  man  and  that  any  one  who 
has  something  definite  to  express  gives  to  it  naturally  a  form 
that  commands  attention  in  itself,  he  respects  the  manner  as 
much  as  the  content,  cultivates  the  gipsy  phrase  in  his  own 
compositions,  and  values  it  in  the  work  of  others. 

3 


4  H.  L.  MENCKEN 

He  is  distinctly  aware.  He  dwells  in  no  ivory  tower,  aloof 
and  austere.  The  whole  process  of  daily  life  in  this  republic, 
its  utterly  serious  concern  with  fallacies  and  foibles,  its  flatu 
lent  popular  idols,  its  puerile  preferences  in  literature,  art, 
politics,  amusements  and  moral  schemes,  its  lusty  and  preten 
tious  vulgus,  its  self-styled  intelligenzia,  all  furnish  him  with 
ammunition  for  his  critical  mitrailleuse.  He  reads  everything 
that  has  a  bearing  upon  the  life  about  him,  from  the  latest 
bad  novel  to  the  latest  papal  bull,  and  from  handbills  to  deci 
sions  of  the  Supreme  Court.  His  vivid  combinations,  his  apt 
coinages  of  words  are  traceable  to  a  close  observation  and 
appraisal  of  daily  affairs.  Add  a  nimble  and  often  grotesque 
imagination  and  you  have  the  formula  of  his  style  —  the  most 
vigorous,  the  most  individual,  and  the  most  frequently  imitated 
in  this  country.  He  owes  much  of  it  to  his  early  studies  of 
Nietzsche.  It  has  the  slash,  the  incisiveness,  and  the  gusto  of 
the  apothegmatic  "  Will  to  Power."  It  is  the  style  of  a  satirist 
and  humourist  of  a  high  order,  one  equal  to  compact  and  devas 
tating  epithets.  It  moves  with  an  irregular  tempo,  replete 
with  dissonances.  It  is  imagistic,  colourful,  dynamic. 

II 

American  literature  has  been,  and  is,  singularly  deficient  in 
established  critics  who  have  anything  like  a  rational  conception 
of  their  jobs.  The  majority,  initiate  in  a  few  of  the  patent 
rituals  of  Aristotle  and  Quintilian,  don  the  forbidding  robes 
of  high  priests  to  Sweetness  and  Light,  and  go  about  their 
business  much  as  if  the  idea  were  to  keep  all  they  know  to 
themselves. 

The  aesthetic  criteria  of  these  Neo-Boussets  are  the  pulpit 
criteria  of  the  early  nineteenth  century.  They  are  unaware 
that  psychologists  long  ago  made  a  division  between  ethical 
values  and  reactions  to  aesthetic  stimuli.  One  of  the  chief 
among  them  is  aghast  at  Sainte-Beuve's  catholicity  of  taste  and 


FANFARE  BY  BURTON  RASCOE  5 

sheds  a  righteous  tear  of  regret  that  the  great  Frenchman  was 
not  a  family  man  and  a  Scotch  Presbyterian.  Another  — 
whose  flare  for  discovering  a  new  Balzac  in  every  third  pot 
boiler  who  sends  him  a  novel  and  whose  genius  for  being 
quoted  on  the  ash  cans  of  the  publishing  alleys  make  him 
probably  the  most  sinister  drawback  to  the  advancement  of 
American  letters  —  this  professor,  in  a  work  on  the  English 
novel,  hangs  an  unbecoming  and  unnecessary  halo  above  the 
head  of  Mark  Twain,  finds  moral  tracts  in  every  fiction,  and 
leaves  out  entirely  two  or  three  of  the  really  important  novelists 
of  the  present  day.  Criticism,  so  practised,  becomes  an  exercise 
in  hieroglyphics,  a  requiem  high  mass  at  4  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  —  anything  save  a  sane,  intelligent  effort  to  get  at  a 
writer's  intention  and  to  judge  him  as  to  whether  he  has 
achieved  it,  well  or  ill. 

This  effort  Mencken  makes  in  "  A  Book  of  Prefaces,"  deal 
ing  with  Conrad,  Dreiser,  and  Huneker,  with  an  added  chapter 
on  "  Puritanism  as  a  Literary  Force."  It  is  a  book  of  creative 
criticism  in  a  sense  unusual  in  American  letters.  It  is  an 
assault  upon  the  cultural  pharisaism  which  leads  us  to  bally 
hoo  third-rate  Russian,  French,  Italian,  Japanese,  and  Hindu 
poets  and  novelists,  issuing  them  in  translations  with  roy- 
croftie  bindings  to  lie  unopened  on  library  tables,  while  men 
nearer  home,  eminently  more  deserving  of  artistic  considera 
tion,  are  neglected  or,  what  is  worse,  pilloried  by  smug  review 
ers.  It  is  a  work  of  appraisement  and  appreciation  by  a  man 
who  can  write  coherently  and  with  effect,  who  knows  several 
literatures  and  yet  is  not  a  don,  who  has  taste  and  discrimina 
tion  and  yet  is  not  a  prig,  who  can  pass  judgment  on  a  writer 
and  yet  not  assume  that  the  destiny  of  the  race  is  thus  deter 
mined  by  his  words,  and  who  can  be  a  critic  and  yet  be  human. 

To  get  the  full  force  of  his  writings,  of  course,  one  must  at 
least  know  the  A  B  C's  of  literary  history,  but  one  must  also 
know  that  this  is  the  twentieth  century.  A  pedant  will  miss 


6  H.  L.  MENCKEN 

as  many  of  his  allusions  as  will  a  parlour  maid  or  a  chauffeur. 
He  has,  to  be  sure,  his  share  of  intellectual  f ourflush ;  he,  too, 
is  an  American.  He  shows,  at  times,  an  offensive  intellectual 
arrogance  and  a  vainglorious  trick  of  parading  names  of  unfa 
miliar  writers  through  the  pages  of  his  discourse.  He  has  an 
intolerance  as  definite  in  its  way  as  the  intolerance  of  the 
Methodism  and  Puritanism  he  fights.  He  has  a  sentimental 
bias  for  the  melancholy  as  against  the  joyous  temperament. 
At  heart  he  is  a  Puritan,  as  was  Nietzsche  and  is  Shaw.  And 
he  has  his  regular  fling  at  bourgeoisie  baiting,  a  pastime  he 
pleasingly  alternates  with  badgering  the  "  intellectuals."  It  is 
great  fun  for  him  and  for  his  readers.  With  an  adjective  and 
a  noun  he  can  strip  a  Chautauqua  pundit  of  every  stitch  of  his 
pretentious  accoutrements  and  leave  him  shivering  in  the  alto 
gether,  a  pathetic  and  ridiculous  spectacle. 

He  is  at  best  as  a  critic  in  dealing  with  prose.  He  has  little 
patience  with  or  appreciation  for  poetry  and  with  characteristic 
impromptu  he  is  likely  to  consign  to  the  limbo  of  his  estimates, 
along  with  a  hack  versifier,  a  poet  of  high  calibre,  whose 
methods  and  aims  he  does  not  immediately  apperceive.  It  is 
this  intolerance,  these  snap  and  final  judgments,  this  delight 
in  an  occasional  display  of  cultural  bijouterie,  that  lessen  his 
stature  as  a  critic.  Some  of  us  hope  that  in  the  long  run  he 
will  shed  that  fault  and  gain  a  trifle  more  of  poise  and  balance, 
without  losing  thereby  his  gem-like  quality  of  phrase. 

This  consummation,  in  fact,  he  has  in  a  large  measure 
achieved  in  "A  Book  of  Prefaces."  His  occasional  sacrifice 
of  clear  perspective  to  the  pungent  line  is  here  absent.  He  has 
approached  Conrad,  Dreiser,  and  Huneker  with  an  unwonted 
chastity  of  critical  materials  and  given  an  equitable  estimate 
and  a  keen  analysis  of  the  artistic  aims  of  these  men.  He 
inspires  one  with  a  desire  to  find  pleasure  in  their  writings,  or, 
if  one  is  already  familiar  with  them,  to  cherish  a  more  intimate 
acquaintance  with  them.  This  is,  of  course,  the  mission  —  if 


FANFARE  BY  BURTON  RASCOE  7 

he  have  a  mission  —  of  the  critic.  He  perhaps  reads  in  Dreiser 
and  Conrad  that  which  is  not,  a  habit  he  abominates  in  others. 
But  that  is  only  one  more  evidence  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  purely  objective  criticism.  A  critic  invariably  treats  of 
himself  in  considering  the  work  of  others,  and  he  is  worth 
while  only  in  so  far  as  he  is  of  intellectual  interest  and  conse 
quence  as  a  man. 

Mencken  has  rooted  lustily  for  Dreiser  ever  since  the  latter 
first  appeared  upon  the  literary  scene.  He  early  discerned  in 
the  Indianan  a  new  and  vital  force  in  American  letters,  a  sin 
cere  and  unflinching  artist,  pledged  to  present  faithfully  life 
as  he  had  seen  it.  And  when  Dreiser  was  down  and  gasping 
under  the  onslaught  of  public  and  professional  critics,  Mencken 
stepped  in,  wielding  his  mighty  cutlass,  decapitated  some  half 
dozen  of  the  more  weighty  anthropophagites,  and  drove  the 
rest  to  cover.  The  fight  is  not  over,  but  Mencken  is  holding 
them  at  bay  and  others  have  enlisted  in  his  aid.  He  knows 
Dreiser's  faults,  of  which  there  are  many,  and  he  points  them 
out  in  his  book,  but  he  also  knows  Dreiser's  merits.  .  .  . 

Ill 

I  unburdened  myself  of  the  foregoing  dithyrambs  in  the 
course  of  an  article  in  the  Chicago  Sunday  Tribune  during 
November,  1917.  When  I  came  to  write  the  present  paper  I 
thought  I  should  be  able  to  sandwich  that  earlier  discourse 
into  this  one.  I  find  that  it  cannot  be  done.  It  is  couched  in 
a  definite  key  and  tempo  which  I  cannot  at  this  moment  recatch, 
and  a  paragraph  from  it  juxtaposed  with  a  paragraph  I  should 
now.  write  must  result  in  a  forbidding  mixture  of  jerky 
rhythms.  But  since,  after  three  years,  the  parts  I  have 
reprinted  still  represent  in  essentials  my  impressions  of  Mr. 
Mencken's  work  I  have  decided  to  let  them  stand.  The  article 
was  hortatory  rather  than  expository  and  its  aim  was  to 
increase,  so  far  as  possible,  Mr.  Mencken's  audience.  He  had 


8  H.  L.  MENCKEN 

not  at  that  time  the  following  he  now  enjoys;  and  his  import 
ance  as  a  literary  figure,  while  just  as  real,  was  not  then  so 
apparent  as  it  is  now.  He  has  meanwhile  given  us  an  import 
ant  and  vastly  interesting  philological  work,  "  The  American 
Language";  a  new  book  of  criticism,  "Prejudices:  First 
Series";  an  ingenious  satire,  "In  Defense  of  Women";  and 
in  collaboration  with  George  Jean  Nathan,  a  satirical  buffoon 
ery,  "  Heliogabalus,"  and  a  study  of  the  American  mind  in 
action,  "  The  American  Credo."  He  has  been  praised  in  the 
Mercure  de  France  and  in  various  other  continental  reviews, 
as  well  as  in  such  English  periodicals  as  the  Athenwum. 
With  these  increasing  evidences  of  foreign  favour,  the  phenom 
enon  of  our  national  literary  self-consciousness  has  again  begun 
to  manifest  itself,  and  American  critics  and  reviewers  who 
were  formerly  afraid  to  mention  his  name  above  a  whisper 
now  warble  about  him  dulcetly.  Even  his  most  active  oppo 
nents,  witnessing  the  wholesale  desertion  from  their  ranks, 
have  tacitly  admitted  his  victory. 

It  must  be  for  Mr.  Mencken  a  source  of  amusement  and  at 
the  same  time  a  little  embarrassing  to  have  among  these  new 
adherents  men  to  whom  he  is  unalterably  opposed  in  idea  and 
in  habit.  For  he  wishes  to  function  freely,  to  dance,  as 
Nietzsche  phrased  it,  with  arms  and  legs.  To  this  end  he 
refuses  to  frequent  literary  societies,  declines  to  meet  authors, 
and  avoids  contact  with  all  public  organizations  and  persons, 
including  even  those  who  have  his  support.  He  is  interested, 
not  in  making  converts,  but  only  in  amusing  himself  at  the 
fascinating  game  of  juggling  ideas.  He  believes,  and  rightly, 
that  the  cenacle  is  the  incubator  of  the  cliche,  that  apostles 
make  the  most  provoking  thought  a  platitude.  He  is  sceptical 
of  all  things,  even  of  the  fleeting  truth  as  he  sees  it.  He 
believes  that  nothing  is  unconditionally  true  and  he  is  opposed 
to  every  positive  statement  of  truth  and  to  every  one  who 
states  it.  All  his  work,  whether  it  be  burlesque,  serious  criti- 


FANFARE  BY  BURTON  RASCOE  9 

cism,  or  mere  casual  controversy,  is  always  directed  against 
one  thing:  empty  pretension.  To  expose  shams,  unmask 
hypocrisy,  ridicule  solemn  delusions  —  this  is  at  once  his 
vocation  and  his  hobby.  His  weapon  is  adapted  to  the  enemy 
and  to  the  fight.  And  he  loves  the  fight  itself,  not  for  the 
victory  it  brings,  the  triumph  of  his  ideas  that  it  holds  out  as 
stakes,  but  for  the  stimulating  exercise  it  entails,  the  sense  of 
strength  in  logic,  the  feeling  of  competency  in  verbal  parries, 
the  sheer  joy  of  combat.  He  has  no  doctrine  to  spread.  None 
of  them  seem  to  him  worth  fighting  for.  He  believes  that  all 
the  larger  human  problems  are  insoluble  and  that  life  is  quite 
meaningless,  a  spectacle  without  purpose  or  moral. 

Thus  a  thoroughgoing  sceptic,  he  is  yet  a  man  of  strong 
intellectual  concepts  and  prejudices,  mostly  negative.  And 
in  the  statement  of  these  concepts  and  prejudices,  one  finds 
him  most  provocative.  None  of  them  are  especially  new, 
many  of  them  are  actually  axiomatic;  but  his  manner  of 
expressing  them,  the  examples  he  adduces  in  support  of  them 
are  unfailingly  interesting.  In  an  expansive  moment  he  once 
wrote  to  me: 

I  am  against  all  theologians,  professors,  editorial-writers,  right-thinkers 
and  reformers.  I  am  against  patriotism  because  it  demands  the  accept 
ance  of  propositions  that  are  obviously  imbecile,  e.  g.,  that  an  American 
Presbyterian  is  the  equal  of  Anatole  France,  Brahms  or  Ludendorff.  I 
am  against  democracy  for  the  same  reason:  it  is  indistinguishable  from 
lunacy.  To  me  democracy  seems  to  be  founded  wholly  upon  the  inferior 
man's  envy  of  his  superior  —  of  the  man  who  is  having  a  better  time. 
That  is  also  the  origin  of  Puritanism.  I  detest  all  such  things.  I 
acknowledge  that  many  men  are  my  superiors,  and  always  defer  to 
them.  In  such  a  country  as  the  United  States,  of  course,  few  of  that 
sort  are  to  be  encountered.  Hence  my  apparent  foreignness:  most  of 
the  men  I  respect  are  foreigners.  But  this  is  not  my  fault.  I'd  be  glad 
to  respect  Americans  if  they  were  respectable.  George  Washington  was. 
I  admire  him  greatly. 

I  detest  men  who  meanly  admire  mean  things,  e.  g.,  fellows  who  think 
jhal(Ro.>seveh>vas  a  great  man.  I  also  detest  poltroons  —  that  is,  men 
who  seek  uniair  advantages  in  combat.  In  my  gladiatorial  days  on  the 
Baltimore  Sun  I  never  attacked  a  single  man  who  was  without  means  of 

H.L.H. 


1 


10  H.  L.  MENCKEN 

hitting  back.  I  controlled  space  that  was  dedicated  to  any  one  who 
wanted  to  attack  me.  No  man  was  ever  refused  this  space.  My  objec 
tion  to  Americans  is  that  they  like  to  fight  with  the  enemy  strapped  to 
the  board.  Hence  the  persecution  of  Germans  during  the  war,  the 
robbery  of  helpless  alien  business  men,  the  American  Legion,  the  Amer 
ican  Protective  League,  the  attack  on  Spain,  the  wars  with  Nicaragua, 
Santo  Domingo,  etc.  This  poltroonery  is  not  essentially  American,  it  is 
simply  democratic;  the  inferior  man  always  shows  it. 

I  am,  tested  by  the  prevailing  definitions,  a  bad  American.  I  do  not 
believe  this  country  has  the  glorious  future  that  patrioteers  talk  of. 
It  will  probably  remain  second  rate  for  a  long  while  —  a  mere  milch  cow 
for  England.  Most  of  the  American  ideals,  so  called,  that  I  know  of 
seem  to  me  to  be  idiotic.  If  they  were  sound,  I'd  probably  jump  into  the 
nearest  river.  The  sort  of  country  they  conjure  up  would  be  simply  a 
paradise  of  bounders,  forward-lookers,  right-thinkers,  all  sorts  of  stupid 
cowards.  I  do  not  believe  that  civilized  life  is  possible  under  a  democ 
racy. 

I  am  an  extreme  libertarian  and  believe  in  absolutely  free  speech,  espe 
cially  for  anarchists,  Socialists  and  other  such  fools.  Once  those  fellows 
were  free  to  gabble  ad  lib.,  democracy  would  be  reduced  to  an  absurdity ; 
the  mob  would  go  stark  crazy.  I  am  against  jailing  men  for  their  opin 
ions,  or,  for  that  matter,  for  anything  else.  I  am  opposed  to  religions, 
because  all  of  them  seek  to  throttle  opinion.  I  do  not  believe  in  educa 
tion,  and  am  glad  I  never  went  to  a  university.  Beyond  the  rudiments, 
it  is  impossible  to  teach  anything.  All  the  rest  the  student  acquires 
himself.  His  teacher  merely  makes  it  difficult  for  him.  I  never  learned 
anything  in  school. 

My  scepticism  is  intolerably  offensive  to  the  normal  American  man; 
only  the  man  under  strong  foreign  influences  sees  anything  in  it  save  a 
gross  immorality.  If  the  notions  of  the  right-thinkers  are  correct,  then 
such  stuff  as  mine  (and  particularly  such  stuff  as  I  shall  write  here 
after)  ought  to  be  put  down  by  law.  I  believe  that,  in  the  long  run, 
it  will  be  put  down  by  law,  —  that  free  speech  is  too  dangerous  to 
democracy  to  be  permitted.  But  I  surely  do  not  complain  about  that. 
The  Puritans  have  a  right  to  determine  the  laws  of  their  country.  And 
I  reject  the  sentimentality  that  the  minority  also  has  rights. 

Here,  indeed,  we  have  a  man  dancing  with  arms  and  legs. 
And  while  he  dances  we  may  be  permitted  to  take  notes  upon 
the  performance.  It  will  first  be  observed  that  while  Mr. 
Mencken  fancies  he  is  an  alien,  he  is  actually  as  essentially 
American  (as  Vincent  O'Sullivan  has  pointed  out)  as  pumpkin 
pie.  In  no  other  country  in  the  world  could  such  a  man  be 


FANFARE  BY  BURTON  RASCOE  11 

imagined.  He  is  indubitably  a  natural  product  of  American 
traditions,  American  training,  American  character, —  a  prod 
uct,  perhaps,  of  reaction  against  these  things,  but  still  plainly 
a  product.  (This  delusion  of  un-Americanism  on  the  part  of 
Americans  who  have  risen  above  the  mob  is  common  enoughX 
There  is  a  notion  among  critics  that  Edgar  Allan  Poe  is  unre*|> 
resentative  of  America,  that  he  is  essentially  French.  That 
superstition  has  been  admirably  exploded  by  Remy  de  Gour- 
mont,  who  said  of  Poe: 

"  Ses  '  canards  '  sont  des  recreations  et  des  experiences  psychologiques. 
Cependant  on  y  decouvre  des  traces  du  gout  particulier  des  Americains 
pour  la  reclame,  1'affiche,  la  publicite  barbare,  le  journalisme  extravagant. 
Poe  est  un  Americain  bien  plus  representatif  de  1'Amerique  qu'Emerson 
ou  Walt  Whitman.  Son  esprit  a  des  cotes  pratiques.  Denue  de 
litterature,  il  eut  ete  un  etonnant  homme  d'affaires,  un  'lanceur'  de 
premier  ordre." 

Much  the  same  thing  and  with  equal  truth  may  be  said  of 
Mr.  Mencken.  There  is  in  his  work  a  bellicose  extravagance 
peculiarly  American,  arising  to  meet  a  peculiarly  American 
need.  Just  as  I  have  long  thought  of  Anatole  France  as  the 
only  living  Christian,  I  think  of  Mr.  Mencken  as  probably  the 
only  living  American  patriot.  It  will  be  seen  that  his  interests 
are,  paradoxically  enough,  ethical  (or  anti-ethical  if  you  so 
choose  to  call  them) .  His  ideas  are  in  the  main  ideas  in  antag 
onism  to  the  limited  outlook,  the  corrosive  commercialism,  the 
puritanical  bias,  the  stultifying  correctness  of  American  life  — 
conditions  which  make  not  only  for  the  death  of  the  creative 
spirit  in  the  arts,  but  actually  render  life  itself  a  drab  and 
cowardly  preparation  for  death.  His  criticism,  then,  is,  at 
bottom,  a  criticism  of  ideas,  not  of  books;  and  whatever  his 
sceptical  professions,  he  cannot  help  half-heartedly  hope  that, 
through  efforts  such  as  his,  stupidity,  narrowness,  hypocrisy, 
and  mean  living  will  be  in  some  trifling  way  decreased,  so  that 
intelligent  and  honest  artists  may  live  their  lives  in  These 
States  without  interference  by  the  police.  The  artist  in  every 


12  H.  L.  MENCKEN 

country  has,  indeed,  a  difficult  time  enough.  The  milieu  of 
Baudelaire  was  as  hostile  to  him  as  the  milieu  of  Poe  was  to 
him;  the  prosecution  of  Flaubert  was  as  persistent  as  the  per 
secution  of  Dreiser;  Huysmans  and  Verlaine,  to  get  a  hearing 
denied  them  by  the  representative  French  magazines,  had  to 
give  their  stuff  as  fillers  for  the  back  pages  of  a  financial  re 
view.  But  in  this  country  alone,  it  seems,  it  is  difficult  for  an 
artist  to  get  recognition  even  years  after  his  death;  in  this 
country  alone  is  the  artist  held  in  almost  universal  contempt. 
Mr.  Mencken's  war  upon  this  condition  is  so  insistent  that  it 
takes  on  the  nature  of  a  berserker  rage.  He  is  quick  to  recog 
nize  an  artist  and  he  fights  for  him  usually  by  attacking  his 
enemies,  often  leaving  to  others  the  more  academic  work  of 
expounding  the  artist's  virtues.  He  knows  that  the  public 
is  always  in  favour  of  the  prosecution,  that  it  likes  criticism 
only  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  good  show.  His  own  audience  is  small 
and  perhaps  somewhat  superior,  but  it  enjoys  a  good  combat 
as  much  as  any  other,  and  he  invariably  provides  it. 

As  a  critic  of  definite  books,  particularly  of  novels  and 
essays,  he  is  probably  as  often  right  as  is  any  man  who  engages 
in  that  most  subjective  of  all  varieties  of  creative  writing, 
criticism.  He  has  good  sense,  his  tastes  are  excellent,  his  dis 
cernment  of  values  keen.  As  a  critic  of  poetry  he  is,  I  think, 
probably  the  worst  in  the  world.  Poetry,  even  more  than 
painting,  is  his  esthetic  blind  spot:  his  favourite  poem  is 
Lizette  Woodworth  Reese's  "  Tears,"  and  he  once  made  in  all 
seriousness  the  astounding  statement  that  no  one  ever  wrote 
good  poetry  after  the  age  of  twenty-five.  In  poetry  he  prefers 
the  sentimental  —  if  he  cares  for  it  at  all,  which  is  not  often. 
But  we  must  take  the  bitter  with  the  sweet.  Sainte-Beuve  was 
notoriously  inept  in  his  remarks  on  Flaubert,  Balzac,  and  Bau 
delaire:  Brunetiere  was  an  anachronism,  belonging  rightly  to 
the  seventeenth  century;  Lemaitre  was  too  classical  in  his 
tastes;  Anatole  France  ridiculed  the  Symbolists  as  diseased 


FANFARE  BY  BURTON  RASCOE  13 

poets;  Remy  de  Gourmont  was  antipathetic  to  any  one  who 
professed  Christianity;  Georg  Brandes  has  anti-social  and  pessi 
mistic  prejudices;  James  Huneker,  choosing  always  to  write 
sympathetically  and  illuminatingly  upon  subjects  which  inter 
est  him,  is  probably  as  near  an  approach  to  a  perfect  critic 
as  we  have  had. 

I  wish  to  recur  again  to  Mr.  Mencken's  style  before  I  pass 
on  to  his  biography.  Academic  tradition  in  England  and 
consequently  in  »k«»  TJnjtprl  Statpct  Vm<;  always  resisted  any 
attempt  to  intro^uceflexibility  into  the  language,  to  enrich  it 
with  idiom,  to  keep  it  pulsatingly  alive.  There  are  purists  in 
this  country  who  insist  upon  the  retention  "of  grammatical 
usages  and  word  forms  long  after  they  have  passed  out  of 
the  common  speech.  Anglophile  traditionalists  have  even 
insisted  upon  the  abandonment  of  Americanisms  which  have  a 
peculiarly  American  savour.  The  conservators  of  "  correct 
usage  "  in  the  United  States  consider  any  departureTrbm  the 
embalmed  speech  of  the  text-books,  any  use  of  the  rich  and 
sprightly  words  of  everyday  commerce,  a  breach  of  taste  and 

the  writer  thereof  jajnijgar  fellow. Yet  should  you  ask  them 

if  M.  Anatole  France  of  the  Academic  Franchise  is  a  great 
stylist,  they  would  unquestionably  answer  in  the  affirmative. 
And  M.  Anatole  France  of  the  Academic  Frangaise  employs 
slang,  the  idiomatic  expressions  of  the  streets,  and  journalistic 
coinage  whenever  he  feels  like  it  —  which  is  often :  I  counted 
twelve  instances  in  one  page  of  "  M.  Bergeret  a  Paris."  The 
number  of  slang  expressions  which  became  the  common  prop 
erty  of  novelists  and  academicians  in  France  during  the  war 
was  so  large  that  a  special  dictionary  of  them  was  brought 
out.  .  .  .  Mr.  Mencken  has  always  been  a  little  suspect  by 
Americans  of  the  professorial  sort  for  doing  what  the  more 
important  French  writers  have  always  done.  This  most  vigor 
ous  of  American  writers  has  been  patronized  as  not  exactly 
nice.  s^_— -- 


14  H.  L.  MENCKEN 

IV 

Henry  Louis  Mencken  was  born  in  Baltimore  on  September 
12,  1880.  On  his  father's  side  he  inherits  Frisian,  Scandi 
navian,  Saxon,  Polish,  Scotch,  Irish  and  English  blood,  and 
on  his  mother's  side  he  is  lowland  Bavarian  and  Hessian,  with 
probably  some  French  admixture.  The  Mencken  family  was 
first  heard  of  in  Oldenburg;  the  name  is  Frisian.  The  family 
early  made  its  way  in  the  Hansa  towns  and  produced  com 
mercial  magnates,  diplomats,  theologians,  doctors  of  law, 
privy  councillors  and  professors.  In  the  seventeenth  century 
two  Menckens,  cousins,  emigrated  to  Saxony,  attracted  by  the 
university  at  Leipzig,  and  founded  the  Saxon  branch  of  the 
family.  Otto  Mencken,  toward  the  end  of  the  century,  estab 
lished  the  Acta  Eruditorum  there,  the  first  learned  review  in  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire.  His  son,  Johann  Burkhardt,  wrote  in 
1715  a  book  that  was  famous  on  the  Continent  throughout  the 
eighteenth  century  —  "  De  Charlatanerie  Eruditorium,"  a  fur 
ious  attack  upon  professorial  bombast.  Liider  Mencken  was 
an  academic  magnifico  in  Leipzig  in  the  time  of  Johann  Sebas 
tian  Bach  —  a  celebrated  jurist  and  professor  of  law.  An- 
astasius  Ludwig  Mencken  was  a  privy  councillor  to  Frederick 
the  Great.  His  daughter,  Wilhelmina  Luisa,  was  the  mother  of 
Bismarck.  The  family  went  to  pieces  during  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  Mr.  Mencken's  grandfather  left  Leipzig  to  settle  in 
America  in  1848.  He  was  not  a  revolutionist  refugee;  he 
cleared  out  because  he  thought  the  revolution  would  succeed. 

Mr.  Mencken's  father  was  in  the  tobacco  business  in  Balti 
more.  The  young  Mencken  attended  Knapp's  Institute,  a  pri 
vate  school,  and  was  graduated  from  the  Baltimore  Polytechnic 
at  the  early  age  of  sixteen.  His  father  wanted  him  to  enter 
his  business  and  offered  to  send  him  to  Johns  Hopkins  Univer 
sity,  which  offer  he  declined  on  the  ground  that  if  he  were 
destined  for  business  it  was  a  waste  of  time  to  attend  a  univer- 


Ventures  into  Perse 


Being  Various  BALLADS,  BALLADES,  RONDEAUX, 
TRIOLETS,    SONGS,    QUATRAINS,    ODES   and 

ROUNDELS  *  All    rescued  from  the 
POTTERS'    FIELD    of  Old    Files    and   here 

Given   DECENT   BURIAL  *   [Peace  to  Their  Ashes] 

BY 

Henry  Louis  Mencken 

WITH. ILLUSTRATIONS  &  OTHER  THINGS 
'By  CHARLES   S.  GORDON   &  JOHN   SIEGEL 


MARSHALL,  BEEK   &   GORDON  ::  NEW 

YORK  ::  LONDON  ::  TORONTO  ::  SYDNEY 

BALTIMORE   *   FIRST  (and  Last)  EDITION 

M    C    M    I    I    I 

OPUS  1. 


FANFARE  BY  BURTON  RASCOE  15 

sity.  His  father  died  when  he  was  eighteen  and  shortly  after 
ward  Mencken  got  a  job  as  a  reporter  on  the  old  Baltimore 
Morning  Herald.  He  was  successively  Sunday  editor,  city 
editor,  and  at  25  years  managing  editor  of  that  newspaper. 
In  1906  he  became  editor-in-chief  of  the  Evening  Herald  and 
when  the  Herald  suspended  went  to  the  Baltimore  Sun,  serv 
ing  variously  as  Sunday  editor,  dramatic  critic  and  editorial 
writer.  In  1911  he  started  his  Free  Lance  column  in  the 
Evening  Sun  and  ran  it  until  1916.  It  had  a  local  suc 
cess  and  made  him  the  town  anti-Christ.  There  has  never 
been  anything  quite  like  it  in  any  other  American  newspaper. 
He  had  an  absolutely  free  hand  and  he  told  the  horrible  truth 
as  he  saw  it. 

He  began  writing  a  monthly  literary  article  for  the  Smart 
Set  in  1908.  In  1914  he  and  George  Jean  Nathan  and  two 
associates  acquired  the  magazine.  He  is  unmarried  and  lives 
with  his  mother  and  sister  in  Baltimore. 


THE   AMERICAN    CRITIC1 
BY  VINCENT  O'SULLIVAN 

In  the  United  States  at  present  there  is  a  vast  deal  of  what 
may  be  called  academic  criticism.  Considerable  knowledge 
is  often  at  the  base  of  it;  it  is  not  eccentric,  it  is  well-behaved, 
it  is  prudent,  it  is  the  output  of  a  citizen  who  has  a  reputation 
for  decorum  to  keep  up,  it  is  written  and  punctuated  carefully, 
and  published  luxuriously.  It  is  not  easily  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  mass  of  the  same  kind  of  writing  published  in  other 
lands.  The  worst  thing  about  it  is  that  it  is  vacuous  by  dint 
of  respectability.  Its  bland  impersonal  presentations,  some 
times  haughty,  urbane  at  times,  often  irritable  and  always 
dogmatic,  have  absolutely  no  effect  on  the  poets  and  novelists 
of  the  United  States.  Some  of  them  may  read  it,  some  of 
them  may  even  believe  in  it.  But  influence  them  it  does  not. 
It  couldn't.  It  is  too  lifeless. 

Among  all  this  criticism  there  is  one  critic.  His  name  is 
H.  L.  Mencken.  He  may  provoke  animosity,  he  may  rouse 
protestations  even  vehement,  but  he  is  read,  he  is  attended  to. 
With  foundations  perhaps  solider  than  any  solemn  professor 
of  them  all,  he  is  not  solemn.  He  is  not  bored:  whether  or 
not  he  approves  of  the  American  welter,  it  does  not  bore  him. 
He  attacks  his  material  with  gusto.  A  criticism  by  him  is  as 
absorbing  as  a  well-planned  short  story.  Just  as  much  art 
goes  into  it.  Besides,  he  is  genuinely  American  —  only  out  of 
the  States  could  just  that  accent,  that  way  of  looking  at  things, 
come.  Such  weeklies  as  the  New  Republic  and  some  of  the 

iReprinted  from  the  London  New  Witness  by  permission  of  Mr.  O'Sulli- 
van  and  Mr.  G.  K.  Chesterton. 

10 


BY  VINCENT  O'SULLIVAN  17 

other  critical  papers  published  in  America  have  nothing  spe 
cifically  American  about  them.  They  might  be  the  work  of 
the  staff  of  the  London  Spectator  or  Nation  transported  to 
America  and  set  to  writing  on  American  topics.  But  Mr. 
Mencken  does  not  derive  from  England  or  from  anywhere 
else  but  the  U.  S.  A.  He  is  as  peculiarly  American  as 
pumpkin-pie  or  a  Riker-Hegeman  drug-store.  In  this  sense 
he  is  the  first  American  critic,  except  Poe.  For  Lowell,  E.  P. 
Whipple,  W.  C.  Brownell,  and  so  many  others,  what  are  they, 
after  all,  but  products  of  European,  and  chiefly  English,  cul 
ture,  who  have  continued  the  European  tests  on  the  American 
body,  even  as  Henry  James  did  so  mistakenly? 

Mr.  Mencken  tests  America  by  America.  To  say  truth,  he 
treats  Columbia  rather  roughly.  He  takes  liberties  with  her 
—  Oh,  Lord,  yes,  he  takes  all  the  liberties  in  the  world.  Her 
house  is  his  own,  you  see.  If  he  sometimes  takes  her  on  his ' 
knee  and  treats  her  to  a  little  boisterous  fondling,  ere  long  he 
has  her  up  and  hits  her  a  shrewd  whack  over  the  shoulders  or 
a  box  on  the  ear.  But  behind  it  all  one  feels  there  is  con 
siderable  affection:  it  is  in  the  manner  of  Him  who  chasteneth 
because  He  loveth. 

His  book,  "  Prejudices:  First  Series,"  I  have  found  the  most 
interesting  book  of  criticism  which  has  appeared  since  George 
Moore's  "  Impressions  and  Opinions."  Some  of  the  subjects 
are  not  so  important  as  Moore's,  but  that  is  not  Mencken's 
fault:  you  don't  find  Verlaines  and  Degases  and  Manets  and 
Antoine's  Theatre  Libre  fresh  and  unknown  every  day. 
Mencken  takes  what  is  under  his  hand,  and,  without  Moore's 
material,  makes  his  book  as  interesting  as  Moore's.  Not  that 
his  style  or  method  resembles  Moore's  in  the  least.  He  is 
more  like  W.  E.  Henley  in  these,  and  he  is  most  like  himself. 

One  has  to  be  an  American,  or  at  least  to  know  American 
conditions  very  well,  to  estimate  at  its  just  value  criticism  so 
obviously  fearless  and  sincere.  In  reading  "  Prejudices,"  as 


18  THE  AMERICAN  CRITIC 

in  most  of  Mr.  Mencken's  books,  you  get  not  only  a  view  of 
American  literature  as  it  exists  at  present,  but  views  open 
ing  on  all  sides  into  American  life.  No  country  is  so  much 
in  need  just  now  of  impartial  criticism  from  the  inside  as  the 
United  States.  Such  criticism  as  the  French  and  English  have 
given  themselves  almost  since  they  became  articulate,  America 
has  never  had.  There  has  been  a  vague  belief  that  it  was 

~ 


to  show  th£darE"sKte  6TtE"e~American  stated  What 
there  was  of  this  kind  of  criticism  came  from  foreigners  such 
as  Dickens,  and  it  was  accordingly  discounted.  In  Europe 
the  novel  has  been  a  great  instrument  of  criticism,  but  it  is 
only  quite  lately,  with  Theodore  Dreiser,  Sherwood  Anderson, 
Abraham  Cahan  and  one  or  two  others,  that  the  American 
novel  has  come  to  anything  like  frank  and  sincere  terms  withjj 
American  life  —  the  life  led  by  the  millions  of  plain  peoplefl 
Such  novelists  have  had  to  make'  their  way  painfully  against 
furious  opposition;  from  no  authorized  source  have  thej 
received  any  help. 

Alone  among  the  critics,  Mr.  Mencken  fought  their  battles 
for  them  against  obtuseness,  against  malignity  and  hypocrisy 
and  against  that  tepid  sentimentalism  which  is,  I  do  believe, 
the  national  vice;  and  if  things  are  today  a  little  more  easy 
for  the  novelist  who  wishes  to  be  veracious,  it  is  chiefly  to  him 
that  thanks  are  due  —  to  him  and  to  Dreiser,  who  has  had 
church  and  bench  and  bar,  police  and  law  and  order,  and  most 
other  phantasms  and  formulas  mobilized  against  him  for 
nigh  on  twenty  years,  and  has  refused  to  be  bullied  and  cowed. 
One  has  to  be  an  American  to  estimate  properly  the  innova 
tion  of  Dreiser  and  his  courage,  for  lifted  out  of  the  American 
atmosphere  there  is  nothing  very  startling  about  his  novels 
(his  affiliation  really  is  to  the  French  Naturalists),  and  a  Euro 
pean  of  some  culture  reading  them  would  find  them  the 
expression  of  a  healthy  mind,  not  in  the  least  anarchic  or  revo- 
lutionary?  am]  with  nothing  particularly  new  about  them 


ii 


BY  VINCENT  O'SULLIVAN  19 

but  their  subject-matter  —  just  that  rendering  of  plain  Amer 
ican  life  which  I  have  spoken  of. 

But  it  is  impossible  to  regard  them  thus  calmly  in  America, 
as  Mr.  Mencken,  who  has  had  to  give  and  take  many  a  blow 
in  Dreiser's  cause,  knows  well.  There,  Dreiser  is  a  banner  for 
all  those  who  want  to  do  something  else  than  produce  pale 
novels  for  pink  people  like  those  of  the  Harold  Bell  Wrights, 
the  Gene  Stratton  Porters  and  the  Sydnor  Harrisons.  Mr. 
Mencken  writes:  "  It  is  not  the  artistic  merit  and  dignity  of  a 
novel  that  makes  for  its  success  in  the  United  States.  The 
criterion  of  truth  applied  to  it  is  not  the  criterion  of  an  artist, 
but  that  of  a  newspaper  editorial  writer;  the  question  is  not, 
Is  it  in  accord  with  the  profoundest  impulses  and  motives  of 
humanity?  but  Is  it  in  accord  with  the  current  pishposh?  " 
What,  besides  the  all-pervading  sentimentalism,  goes  to  deter 
mine  the  judgment  of  the  editorial  writer,  and  of  a  perhaps 
more  influential  person  when  it  comes  to  books,  the  municipal 
librarian,  I  do  not  pretend  to  know.  My  own  book,  "  The 
Good  Girl,"  which  has  led  a  blameless  and  quiet  life  in  Eng 
land  for  seven  or  eight  years  —  only  the  other  day  I  had  a 
letter  from  an  aged  lady  in  Brighton,  who  told  me  she  had 
read  it  twice  with  great  profit  —  was  barred  out  of  the  public 
libraries  of  New  York  and  Boston,  and  doubtless  other  cities, 
when  it  was  published  in  my  native  land.  A  few  years  ago 
a  new  edition  was  issued  by  a  Boston  publisher,  and  the  poor 
old  bobk  was  treated  cruelly  in  the  press  for  indecency,  immor 
ality,  and  the  whole  orchestra;  and  it  is  still  barred  from  the 
public  libraries.  As  Mr.  Mencken  says:  "A  literary  crafts 
man  in  America  is  never  judged  by  his  work  alone."  There 
mnst  be  something  on  the  side.  Sarah  Bernhardt  or  Mme. 
Melba,  or  somebody  equally  competent  must  look  on  the  work 
and  pronounce  it  good.  The  late  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  a 
great  resource.  His  opinions  might  afflict  the  judicious,  but  a 
book  to  which  he  gave  clearing-papers  sailed  triumphantly 


20  THE  AMERICAN  CRITIC 


.  . 

over  the  stormy  seas  of  the  department-stores  and  anchored 

in  the  haven  of  the  municipal  library. 

Against  patrioteering,  against  fraud  and  violence  and  tyranny 
disguised  as  freedom,  against  the  hand  of  the  oppressor 
wrapped  in  the  cap  of  liberty,  against  words  that  are  froth, 
against  a  crafty  hypocrisy  which  is  the  death  of  all  originality 
in  art,  against  uniformity,  against  the  dead  level,  against  erect 
ing  the  mediocre  opinions  of  the  majority  into  canons  of  art, 
against  a  mean  flattery  of  the  mob  and  playing  down  to  it  — 
against  these  Mr.  Mencken  has  always  nobly  and  bravely  con 
tended,  and  doubtless  will  contend  for  many  years  more,  for 
he  is  still  a  young  man,  and  these  evils  are  likely  to  last  our 
time.  In  fact,  a  sensible  person  does  not  contend  against 
them  in  the  hope  of  removing  them,  for  they  have  been  always 
in  the  world  and  will  probably  remain  in  some  shape  or  other 
till  the  world  is  done  —  no,  but  in  the  hope  of  mitigating  them, 
and  there  is  some  encouragement  for  this.  There  is  no  ques 
tion  that  owing  to  the  campaigns  of  Mr.  Mencken  and  one  or 
two  others,  the  American  poet  and  novelist  and,  to  a  certain 
extent,  the  dramatist  is  infinitely  freer  to  develop  his  work 
logically  and  veraciously  than  he  was  ten  years  ago. 


•  i 


H.  L.  MENCKEN. 

From  a  Pencil  Drawing  by  Willem  Wirtz. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

BY  F.  C.  HENDERSON 
I.    BOOKS  BY  H.  L.  MENCKEN 


Ventures  into  Verse  /  Being  Various  Ballads,  Ballades,  Ron- 
deaux,  /  Triolets,  Songs,  Quatrains,  Odes  and  /  Roundels,  All 
rescued  from  the  /  Potters'  Field  of  Old  Files  and  here  /  Given 
Decent  Burial  [Peace  to  Their  Ashes]  /  By  /  Henry  Louis 
Mencken  /  With  Illustrations  &  Other  Things  /  By  Charles  S. 
Gordon  &  John  Siegel  /  (Publishers'  Device)  /Marshall,  Beek 
&  Gordon,  New  /  York,  London,  Toronto,  Sydney  /  Baltimore. 
First  (and  Last)  Edition  /  MCMIII. 

46  pp.,  ll/2  x4%>  brown  paper,  with  red  and  white  label. 

CONTENTS:  Forty  poems,  chiefly  written  before  1900  and  reprinted 
from  the  Bookman,  Life,  Leslie's  Weekly,  the  New  England  Magazine, 
the  National  Magazine  and  the  Baltimore  Morning  Herald. 

[Out  of  print} 
The  same. 

Binders'  boards,  with  red  back,  and  red  and  white  label. 

[Out  of  print] 

II 

George  Bernard  Shaw  /  His  Plays  /  By  /  Henry  L.  Men 
cken  /  (Device)  /  Boston  and  London  /  John  W.  Luce  & 
Co.  /  1905. 

107  pp.,  iy2  x  51/8 ;  blue  cloth,  with  white,  red  and  black 
labels. 

CONTENTS:  Preface,  By  Way  of  Introduction,  The  Shaw  Plays,  The 
Novels  and  Other  Writings,  Biographical  and  Statistical,  Shakespeare 
and  Shaw. 

NOTE  :  The  table  of  contents  mentions  Major  Barbara,  but  the  last  play 
actually  dealt  with  is  John  Bull's  Other  Island.  [Out  of  print] 

21 


22  ,    BIBLIOGRAPHY 


III 

The  Philosophy  of  /  Friedrich  Nietzsche /By  Henry  L. 
Mencken  /  (Four  line  quotation  from  Schopenhauer]  /  (Pub 
lisher's  device)  /Boston /Luce  and  Company / MCMVIII. 

xiii+325  pp.,  8  x  5%;  maroon  cloth  with  gilt  stamping; 
front,  port,  of  Nietzsche  by  Hans  Olde. 

CONTENTS:  Introduction.  I.  Nietzsche  the  Man:  Boyhood  and  Youth, 
The  Beginnings  of  the  Philosopher,  Blazing  a  New  Path,  The  Prophet 
of  the  Superman,  The  Philosopher  and  the  Man.  II.  Nietzsche  the 
Philosopher:  Dionysus  vs.  Apollo,  The  Origin  of  Morality,  Beyond  Good 
and  Evil,  The  Superman,  Eternal  Recurrence,  Christianity,  Truth,  Civili 
zation,  Women  and  Marriage,  Government,  Crime  and  Punishment,  Edu 
cation,  Sundry  Ideas,  Nietzsche  vs.  Wagner.  III.  Nietzsche  the  Prophet: 
Nietzsche's  Origins,  Nietzsche  as  a  Teacher,  Nietzsche  and  His  Critics. 
IV.  Books  and  Articles  About  Nietzsche. 

NOTE:  The  title  is  incorrect  on  the  back,  thus:  The  Philosophy  of 
Nietzsche.  And  reprinted,  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

London  /  T.  Fisher  Unwin  /  MCMVIII. 

xiii+  321  pp.,  red  cloth  with  gilt  stamping. 

NOTE:  From  the  American  plates,  but  with  Books  and  Articles  About 
Nietzsche  omitted,  though  not  deleted  from  the  table  of  contents. 
The  same. 

Third  Edition.  /  Boston  /  Luce  and  Company  /  1913. 
xiii-f-304  pp.,  maroon  cloth,  with  gilt  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Same  as  above,  but  with  various  changes  in  the  text,  a 
Preface  to  the  Third  Edition  added,  Nietzsche  as  a  Teacher  and  Books 
and  Articles  about  Nietzsche  omitted,  Nietzsche's  Origins  and  Nietzsche 
and  His  Critics  rewritten,  How  to  Study  Nietzsche  and  Index  added, 
and  front,  port,  of  Nietzsche  omitted. 

NOTE:  Title  on  back  corrected. 

IV 

The  Artist  /  A  Drama  Without  Words  /  By  /  H.  L.  Men 
cken  /  John  W.  Luce  &  Company  /  Boston,  1912.  (Title  page 
in  border  by  F.  Barros.) 

33  pp.,  6x4*/2;  brown  mottled  boards,  dark  brown  stamp 
ing. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  23 

NOTE:  Reprinted  from  the  Bohemian  Magazine  for  Dec.,  1909;  also 
afterward  printed  in  the  Smart  Set  for  Aug.,  1916,  and  in  A  Book  of 
Burlesque  (c/.  VI).  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

The   Artist /A   Satire   in   One  Act  /  By   II.   L.   Mencken/ 
(Copyright  notices)  /  New  York,  1917. 
12  pp.,  10%  x  8%;  paper. 

NOTE:  An  acting  edition  for  the  use  of  theatres  presenting  the  play. 
All  even  numbered  pages  blank.  For  the  Producer  added. 

[Out  of  print] 

V 

A  Little  Book /In  C  Major /By  H.  L.  Mencken/  [Opus 
11]  /New  York /John  Lane  Company  /  MCMXVI. 
79  pp.,  iy2  x  5;  red  cloth,  with  gilt  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  A  collection  of  226  epigrams,  chiefly  reprinted  from  the 
Smart  Set.  [Out  of  print] 

VI 

A  Book  of  /  Burlesques  /  By  H.  L.  Mencken  /  [Opus  12] 
/Author  of  "A  Little  Book  in  C  Major,"  etc.  /New  York/ 
John  Lane  Company  /  MCMXVI. 

253  pp.,  7><x5;  red  cloth,  with  gilt  stamping;  folding 
chart  at  rear. 

CONTENTS:  Prefatory  note,  Death:  a  Philosophical  Discussion,  From 
the  Programme  of  a  Concert,  The  Wedding:  A  Stage  Direction,  The 
Visionary,  The  Artist:  a  Drama  Without  Words,  Seeing  the  World,  From 
the  Memoirs  of  the  Devil,  Litanies  for  the  Overlooked,  Asepsis:  a  Deduc 
tion  in  Scherzo  Form,  Tales  of  the  Moral  and  Pathological,  Epithalam- 
ium,  Portraits  of  Americans,  Panoramas  of  People,  The  New  Soule,  A 
Genealogical  Chart  of  the  Uplift. 

NOTE:  The  Artist  was  printed  separately  in  1912  (c/.  IV).  Seeing  the 
World  is  a  slightly  revised  version  of  Preface  in  the  Socratic  Manner 
in  Europe  after  8.15  (c/.  Ila).  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

A  Book  of  /  Burlesques  /  By  H.  L.  Mencken  /  (Publisher's 
device)  /Published  at  the  Borzoi,  New  York,  by /Alfred  A. 
Knopf./  (1920.) 


24  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

237  pp.,  SxTVi;  blue  cloth  with  gilt  and  blind  stamping; 
no  chart. 

CONTENTS:  Same  as  above,  but  with  a  new  prefatory  note,  with  Epi- 
thalamium,  Portraits  of  Americans,  The  New  Soule  and  a  Genealogical 
Chart  of  the  Uplift  omitted,  and  with  The  Jazz  Webster,  The  Old  Sub 
ject,  Vers  Libre  and  Homeopathics  added. 

NOTE:  The  Jazz  Webster,  The  Old  Subject  and  Homeopathics  are 
chiefly  taken  from  A  Little  Book  in  C  Major  (c/.  V).  In  a  few  copies 
p.  198  omitted.  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

CONTENTS:  Same  as  above,  but  with  Patriots  added  to  Panoramas  of 
People,  and  Typographical  Error  of  a  Hopeful  Character,  Veneration, 
Portrait  of  the  Methodist  Heaven,  Patriotic  Note  and  Liturgical  added 
to  Homeopathics. 

NOTE:  On  reverse  of  title:  New  revised  edition,  Second  printing,  April, 
1920. 

VII 

A  Book  of  Prefaces  /  By  H.  L.  Mencken  /  [Opus  13]  /  (Pub 
lisher's  device)  /New  York,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  MCMXVII. 
283  pp.  7%x5;  blue  cloth  with  gilt  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Preface,  Joseph  Conrad,  Theodore  Drieser,  James  Huneker, 
Puritanism  as  a  Literary  Force.  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

Second   (Revised)   Edition  /  MCMXVIII. 

288  pp.  [Out  of  print] 

CONTENTS:  Same  as  above,  but  with  various  changes  in  the  text,  Pref 
ace  omitted,  Preface  to  the  Second  Edition  added,  and  Index  added. 

The  same. 

Third  Edition  /  MCMXX. 

CONTENTS:     Same  as  above,  but  with  new  preface. 

VIII 

Damn!  A  Book  of  Calumny  /  By  H.  L.  Mencken  /  (Pub 
lisher  s  device  in  orange  ink)  /  Philip  Goodman  Company  / 
New  York,  Nineteen  eighteen. 

103  pp.  71/i  x  &/2 ;  light  blue  cloth,  with  gilt  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Pater  Patriae,  The  Reward  of  the  Artist.  The  Heroic  Con- 


THE  SUBCONSCIOUS  MENCKEN. 
An  Inductive  Synthesis  by  MrKt't?  Barclay. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  25 

sidered,  The  Burden  of  Humor,  The  Saving  Grace,  Moral  Indignation, 
Stable-Names,  The  Jews,  The  Comstockian  Premiss,  The  Labial  Infamy, 
A  True  Ascetic,  On  Lying,  History,  The  Curse  of  Civilization,  Eugenics, 
The  Jocose  Gods,  War,  Moralist  and  Artist,  Actors,  The  Crowd,  An 
American  Philosopher,  Clubs,  Fidelis  ad  Urnum,  A  Theological  Mys 
tery,  The  Test  of  Truth,  Literary  Indecencies,  Virtuous  Vandalism,  A 
Footnote  on  the  Duel  of  Sex,  Alcohol,  Thoughts  on  the  Voluptuous, 
The  Holy  Estate,  Dichtung  und  Wahrheit,  Wild  Shots,  Beethoven,  The 
Tone  Art,  Zoos,  On  Hearing  Mozart,  The  Road  to  Doubt,  A  New  Use 
for  Churches,  The  Root  of  Religion,  Free  Will,  Quid  Est  Veritas?,  The 
Doubter's  Reward,  Before  the  Altar,  The  Mask,  Pia  Veneziana  poi  Cristi- 
ani,  Off  Again  On  Again,  Theology,  Exempli  Gratia. 
NOTE:  Twice  reprinted  without  change.  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

Philip  Goodman,  New  York,  1918. 

139  pp.,  ll/2  x  4% ;  light  red  cloth,  with  black  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Same  as  above,  with  Preface  added,  and  a  few  changes  in 
the  text. 

NOTE:  Marked  Fourth  (Revised)  Edition  and  Opus  14  on  the  slip 
cover.  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

A  Book  of  Calumny  /  [First  Printed  as  "  Damn  "]  /  By  H. 
L.  Mencken  /  (Publisher's  device)  /  Published  at  the  Borzoi, 
New  York,  by /Alfred  A.  Knopf.  (1919.) 

139  pp.,  iy4xW/s;  dark  blue  cloth,  with  gilt  and  blind 
stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Same  as  above,  but  with  Preface  omitted.     [Out  of  print] 


IX 

In  Defence  /  of  Women  /  By  H.  L.  Mencken  /  Ppilip  Good 
man,  New  York,  1918. 

218  pp.,  7y2  x  4% ;  blue  cloth,  with  yellow  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  The  Maternal  Instinct,  Woman's  Intelligence,  The  Mas 
culine  Bag  of  Tricks,  Intuition,  The  Duel  of  Sex,  The  Feminine  Attitude, 
Beauty,  Woman's  Equipment,  Honor,  A  Conspiracy  of  Silence,  Marriage, 
The  Process  of  Courtship,  The  Actual  Husband,  The  Unattainable  Ideal, 
The  Effect  on  the  Race,  Compulsory  Marriage,  Extra-Legal  Devices, 
Late  Marriage,  An  Increase  in  Benefits,  Disparate  Unions,  The  Charm 
of  Mystery,  Woman  as  Wife,  Marriage  and  the  Law,  The  Emancipated 
Housewife,  Equal  Suffrage,  The  Woman  Voter,  The  Suffragette,  A 
Mythical  Dare-Devil,  The  Origin  of  a  Delusion,  Women  as  Martyrs, 


26  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Pathological  Effects,  Christianity,  The  Ethics  of  Women,  The  Trans- 
valuation  of  Values,  The  Future  of  Marriage,  The  War  and  Marriage, 
Apologia. 

NOTE:  Error  in  publisher's  name  on  title  page.  Once  reprinted,  with 
Ppilip  corrected  to  Philip.  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

(Publisher's  device)  /  Published  at  the  Borzoi,  New  York, 
by  /  Alfred  A.  Knopf.  ( 1919. ) 

7^x5;  dark  blue  cloth,  with  gilt  and  blind  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Same  as  above. 
NOTE:  Third  Printing  on  slip-over. 

X 

The  /  American  Language /A  Preliminary  Inquiry  into  the 
Development  of  English  in  the  United  States/.  By/H.  L. 
Mencken/.  (Publisher's  device. )  /  New  York  /  Alfred  A. 
Knopf /MCMXIX. 

374  pp.,  9%  x  6*4 ;  dark  blue  cloth,  with  gilt  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Preface,  By  Way  of  Introduction,  The  Beginnings  of 
American,  The  Period  of  Growth,  American  and  English  Today,  Tenden 
cies  in  American,  The  Common  Speech,  Differences  in  Spelling,  Proper 
Names  in  America,  Miscellanea,  Bibliography,  List  of  Words  and  Phrases, 
General  Index. 

NOTE:  Edition  limited  to  1,500  numbered  copies,  printed  from  type, 
including  25  signed  by  the  author.  [Out  of  print] 

XI 

Prejudices  /  First  Series  /  By  H.  L.  Mencken  /  (Publisher's 
device)  /  Published  at  the  Borzoi,  New  York,  by  /  Alfred  A. 
Knopf.  (1919.) 

254  pp.,  7%  x  4%;  blue  cloth,  with  gilt  and  blind  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Criticism  of  Criticism  of  Criticism,  The  Late  Mr.  Wells, 
Arnold  Bennett,  The  Dean,  Professor  Veblen,  The  New  Poetry  Move 
ment,  The  Heir  of  Mark  Twain,  Hermann  Sudermann,  George  Ade,  The 
Butte  Bashkirtseff,  Six  Members  of  the  Institute,  The  Genealogy  of 
Etiquette,  The  American  Magazine,  The  Ulster  Polonius,  An  Unheeded 
Law-Giver,  The  Blushful  Mystery,  George  Jean  Nathan,  Portrait  of  an 
Immortal  Soul,  Jack  London,  Among  the  Avatars,  Three  American 
Immortals,  Index.  [Out  of  print] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  27 

The  same. 
(1920.) 

NOTE:  A  few  slight  changes.  On  reverse  of  title:  Second  Printing, 
January,  1920.  Wut  of  print} 

The  same. 
(1920.) 
NOTE:  On  reverse  of  title:  Third  Printing,  April,  1920. 

XII 

Prejudices  /  Second  Series  /  By  H.  L.  Mencken  /  (Publish 
ers  device]  /  Published  at  the  Borzoi,  New  York,  by  /  Alfred 
A.  Knopf  (1920). 

265  pp.  71/4x4%;  blue  cloth,  with  gilt  and  blind  stamp 
ing. 

CONTENTS:  The  National  Letters,  Roosevelt:  An  Autopsy,  The  Sahara 
of  the  Bozart,  The  Divine  Afflatus,  Exeunt  Omnes,  Scientific  Examina 
tion  of  a  Popular  Virtue,  The  Allied  Arts,  The  Cult  of  Hope,  The  Dry 
Millenium,  Appendix  on  a  Tender  Theme,  Index. 

II.  BOOKS  BY  H.  L.  MENCKEN  AND  OTHERS 

la 

Men  versus  The  Man  /  A  Correspondence  /  Between  /  Robert 
Rives  La  Monte,  Socialist  /  and  /  H.  L.  Mencken,  Individual 
ist  /  (Publisher's  device)  /  New  York  /  Henry  Holt  and  Com 
pany  /  1910. 

252  pp.,  7%  x  4% ;  red  cloth,  with  gilt  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Introduction,  six  letters  by  La  Monte  and  six  replies  by 
Mencken,  Index.  Wut  of  print] 

Ha 

Europe  after  8.15  /  By  /  H.  L.  Mencken  /  George  Jean 
Nathan  /  Willard  Huntington  Wright  /  with  Decorations  /  By 
Thomas  H.  Benton  /  (Publisher's  device)  /  New  York,  John 
Lane  Company  /  Toronto,  Bell  &  Cockburn  /  MCMXIV. 

222  pp.,  7l/2  x4%;  yellow  cloth,  with  blue  and  gilt  stamp 
ing. 

CONTENTS:  Preface  in  the  Socratic  Manner,  Vienna,  Munich,  Berlin, 
London,  Paris. 


28  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

NOTE:  Nathan  wrote  Paris  and  Berlin,  Wright  wrote  Vienna  and  most 
of  London,  and  Mencken  wrote  the  Preface,  Munich  and  the  first  and 
last  parts  of  London.  [Out  of  print] 

Ilia 

The  Profession  of  /  Journalism  /  A  Collection  of  Articles 
on  Newspaper  Editing /and  Publishing,  Taken  from  the/ 
Atlantic  Monthly/  Edited  with  an  Introduction  /  and  Notes 
by/Willard  Grosvenor  Bleyer,  Ph.  D.  /  Author  of  "News 
paper  Writing  and  Editing  "  and  "  Types  of  News  /  Writing;" 
Professor  of  Journalism  in  the  /  University  of  Wisconsin  / 
(Publisher  s  device)  /  The  Atlantic  Monthly  Press  /  Boston, 
(1918). 

292  pp.,  iy2  x5;  maroon  cloth,  with  gilt  and  blind  stamp 
ing. 

NOTE:  Newspaper  Morals,  by  H.  L.  Mencken,  pp.  52-67;  reprinted 
from  the  Atlantic  Monthly  for  March,  1914. 

IVa 

Heliogabalus  /  A  Buffoonery  in  Three  Acts  /  by  H.  L. 
Mencken  and  /  George  Jean  Nathan  /  (Publisher's  device)  / 
New  York,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  MCMXX. 

183  pp.,  7%  x  S1^ ;  blue  cloth  with  gilt  stamping. 

NOTE:  Edition  limited  to  2,000  numbered  copies.       [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

Japanese  boards  with  parchment  back,  gilt  stamping. 

NOTE:  Edition  limited  to  60  copies  on  Imperial  Japan  vellum,  auto 
graphed  by  the  authors;  50  copies  only  for  sale.  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

Light  brown  paper,  with  brown  stamping. 

NOTE:  Acting  edition,  none  for  sale.  [Out  of  print] 

Va 

The  American  Credo  /  A  Contribution  Toward  the  Interpre 
tation  /  of  the  National  Mind  /  by  George  Jean  Nathan  /  and 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  29 

H.  L.  Mencken.  /  (Publisher's  device.)  /  New  York  /Alfred  A. 
Knopf  /  1920. 

191  pp.,  7%  x5;  black  cloth,  with  gilt  stamping. 

CONTENTS:  Preface,  The  American  Credo. 

NOTE:  The  Preface  by  Mencken;  the  Credo  by  Nathan. 

VIb 

A  Modern  Book  of  /  Criticism  /  Edited  with  an  Introduc 
tion  by  /  Ludwig  Lewisohn,  Litt.  D.  /  (Device)  /  Boni  and 
Liveright  /  New  York,  1919. 

210  pp.,  6^x4%;  green  leatherette,  with  gilt  stamping. 

Homiletics  of  Criticism,  The  Critic's  Function,  and  The 
Puritan  and  American  Literature,  by  H.  L.  Mencken,  pp.  167- 
173.  The  Modern  Library. 

III.    BOOKS  EDITED  BY  H.  L.  MENCKEN 
Ib 

The  /  Gist  of  Nietzsche  /  Arranged  by  Henry  L.  Mencken  / 
Author  of  /  The  Philosophy  of  /  Friedrich  Nietzsche  / 
(Device)  /  Boston  /  John  W.  Luce  &  Company  /  1910.  (Title 
page  in  rule  border.) 

60  pp.,  7^x4!/2;  red  cloth,  with  red,  white  and  black 
labels. 

Introduction  and  Biographical  Note  by  the  Editor. 

[Out  of  print] 
lib 

The  Players'  /  Ibsen  /  A  Doll's  /  House  /  Newly  translated 
from  the  de- /  finitive  Dano-Norwegian  text;  Edited,  /  with 
introduction  and  notes,  by  /  Henry  L.  Mencken  /  John  W.  Luce 
&  Company  /  Boston,  London.  /  (1909.) 

150  pp.,  6x4%;  red  cloth,  with  gilt  stamping. 

Introduction,  Notes,  and  Books  in  English  Dealing  With 
"  A  Doll's  House  "  by  the  editor.  [Out  of  print] 

The  same. 

Little  Eyolf.  (1909.) 


30  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

125  pp. 

Introduction,  Notes,  and  Books  in  English  Dealing  With 
"  Little  Eyolf  "  by  the  editor.  [Out  of  print] 

Illb 

Blanchette  and  the  /  Escape,  Two  Plays  by  /  Brieux,  With 
Preface  /  by  H.  L.  Mencken.  Trans-  /  lated  from  the  French  / 
by  Frederick  Eisemann.  /  John  W.  Luce  &  Company  /  Boston, 
MCMXIII. 

240  pp.,  7%x5%;  green  cloth,  with  red,  black  and  white 
labels. 

Preface,  pp.  i-xxxvi,  by  the  editor. 

IVb 

The  Master  Builder  /  Pillars  of  Society  /  Hedda  Gabler  / 
By  Henrik  Ibsen  /  Introduction  by  H.  L.  Mencken  /  (Pub 
lisher's  device)  /  Boni  and  Liveright,  Inc.  /  Publishers,  New 
York.  (1918.) 

305  pp.,  6%  x  4% ;  green  leatherette,  with  gilt  stamping. 

Introduction,  pp.  v— xii,  by  the  editor.     The  Modern  Library. 

Vb 

Ben  Kutcher's  Illustrated  Edition  of  /  A  /  House  of  Pome 
granates  /  and  the  story  of  /  The  Nightingale  and  the  Rose  / 
by  Oscar  Wilde  /  with  an  introduction  by  /  H.  L.  Mencken  / 
(Publisher's  device)  /  New  York  /  Moffat,  Yard  and  Com 
pany  /  1918. 

180  pp.,  8%  x  5% ;  chocolate  boards,  with  yellow  cloth 
back,  and  white  and  black  labels. 

Preface,  pp.  i-viii,  by  the  editor. 

VIb 

The  Free  Lance  Books.  I.  /  Edited  by  H.  L.  Mencken  /  Youth 
and  Egolatry,  by  Pio  Baroj  a  /  Translated  from  the  Spanish/ 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  31 

by  Jacob  S.  Fassett,  Jr.  /  and  Frances  L.  Phillips  /  (Publisher's 
device)  /New  York,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  MCMXX. 

265  pp.,  7}4  by  4%;  red  boards,  with  black  cloth  back; 
black  stamping,  and  red  and  black  label. 

Introduction,  pp.  11-20,  by  the  editor. 

The  same. 

II.  /  Ventures  /  In     Common     Sense  /  By     E.     W.     Howe. 
/MCMXIX. 

273  pp. ;  blue  boards,  with  black  cloth  back,  black  stamping, 
and  blue  and  black  label. 

Introduction,  pp.  7-29,  by  the  editor. 

The  same. 

III.  /  The  /  Antichrist  /  By    F.     W.    Nietzsche  /  Translated 
from  the  German  /  with  an  introduction  by  H.  L.  Mencken/ 
MCMXX. 

182  pp. ;  orange  boards,  with  black  cloth  back,  black  stamp 
ing,  and  orange  label. 

Introduction,  pp.  7-38,  by  the  editor. 

The  same. 

IV.  /  We    Moderns:  /  Enigmas    and     Guesses  /  By    Edwin 
Muir.  /  MCMXX. 

244  pp.,  green  boards,  with  black  cloth  back,  black  stamping 
and  green  and  black  label. 

Introduction,  pp.  7-21,  by  the  editor. 

Vllb 

Tales  of  Mean  Streets  /  By  Arthur  Morrison  /  Introduction 
by  H.  L.  Mencken  /  (Publisher's  device)  /  Boni  and  Live- 
right,  Inc.  /  Publishers,  New  York  (1920). 

251  pp.,  6!/2  x4%;  green  leatherette,  with  gilt  stamping. 

Introduction,  pp.  v-ix,  by  the  editor.     The  Modern  Library. 


32  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

IV.    SOME  CRITICISM  OF  H.  L.  MENCKEN 

Alliteraricus,  pseud.;  To  the  Boche  and  the  Pundit,  St.  Louis  Mirror, 
April  25,  1919. 

Bourne,  Randolph:  H.  L.  Mencken,  New  Republic,  Nov.  24,  1917. 

Boyd,  Ernest  A.:  American  Literature  or  Colonial?  Freeman,  March 
17,  1920. 

— ,  :   A   Modern   Reactionary,  London  Athenceum,  May   14, 

1920. 

Boynton,  Percy  H.:  American  Literature  and  the  Tart  Set,  Freeman, 
April  17,  1920. 

Cahan,  Abraham:  H.  L.  Mencken,  New  York  Daily  Forward,  May  26, 
1918. 

De  Casseres,  Benjamin:  H.  L.  Mencken  and  the  Second  Fall  of  Man, 
New  York  Sun,  Oct.  20,  1919. 

Frank,  Waldo:  Our  America;  New  York    (Boni  &  Liveright),  1919; 
pp.  192-3. 

Gilman,  Lawrence:  The  Book  of  the  Month,  North  American  Review, 
May,  1919. 

H(ackett),  F(rancis)  :   The  Living  Speech,  New  Republic,  May  31, 
1919. 

Harris,    Frank:    American    Values:    Howe    and    Mencken,    Pearson's 
Magazine,  Jan.,  1919. 

Hatteras,  Owen:  Pistols  for  Two;  New  York  (Alfred  A.  Knopf),  1917; 
pp.  21^1. 

H(uxley),    A(ldous)     L.:    American    Criticism,    London    Athenaeum, 
Jan.  2,  1920. 

Orchelle,  R.  L.:  A  Book  of  Rebellion  and  Regret,  Continental  Times 
(Berlin),  May  3,  1918. 

O'Sullivan,  Vincent:  La  Litterature  Americaine,  Mercure  de  France, 
Jan.  16,  1919. 

— ,  -      — :   The  American   Critic,  New    Witness    (London),  Nov. 
28,  1919. 

Sherman,  Stuart  P.:  Mr.  H.  L.  Mencken  and  the  Jeune  Fille,  Times 
Book  Review  (New  York),  Dec.  7,  1919. 

,  -      — :  Beautifying  American  Literature,  Nation  (New  York), 

Nov.  29,  1917. 

Spingarn,  J.  E.:  American  Criticism  Today,  Nation   (London),  April 
17,  1920. 

Untermeyer,  Louis:  A  Preface  To — ,  Liberator,  May,  1918. 

9  :  The  Review's  the  Thing,  Bellman,  July  15,  1916. 

Vente,   Elmar:    Ein   Rufer   aus  der  Wuste,  New   York    Volkszeitung, 
Jan.  16,  1918. 

Wilson,  Edmund,  Jr.:  Some  Reviews  of  Job,  Dial,  April,  1920. 


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